KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — It's been awhile since Vols basketball fans had to sweat out the outcome of a game like that. No. 3 Tennessee hung on for a 71-68 win over Alabama at a sold out Thompson-Boling Arena on Saturday. It was the first time the Vols didn't win by double digits since the upset of no. 1 Gonzaga back on December 9.
"It was super intense," Vols point guard Jordan Bone said after the game.
"It was definitely a different feel, but it’s a mindset that we have to have every game, no matter what the score is. That focus, that intensity that we had to shut a team down, no matter what the score or situation is, that’s what we have to have every single game.”
Admiral Schofield gave Tennessee (16-1, 5-0 SEC) the lead for good with 2:12 left in the game when he drove to the front of the rim from the left corner for a layup.
The officials played a role in the closing moments of the game. Grant Williams was called for an offensive foul as he tried to drive on Donta Hall at the edge of the paint. The Vols were up by one with 12 seconds left when the ref blew the whistle.
On the ensuing possession Alabama's John Petty Jr. was called for a travel with three seconds left and head coach Avery Johnson couldn't believe the call.
The Tide then fouled Lamonte Turner and he hit two free throws to seal the win.
“Everyday in practice, we work on pivots, we work on coming off screens, on faceups and things like that, so in my opinion I feel like I didn’t travel, but it was the call and I guess we have to live with it,” said Petty, who tied a career-high with 30 points.
“I thought it was the right call," Tennessee forward Grant Williams said.
"Admiral made a great play when Jordan Bone got tagged on that screen and switched hard. When he caught it, I just think he didn’t notice and backed up left, right, left. We got a good call that went our way.”
Tennessee led by 12 at the break but Alabama started the second half on a 13-0 run to take a 45-44 lead and Vols head coach Rick Barnes called timeout.
"When they came out in the second half and started coming back, I told the coaches, ‘I am not going to call a timeout. We need this to see how we respond.’ And then I called a timeout because we didn’t respond when we needed to," Barnes said. "You have to give Alabama credit. We came down and we were way too impatient on the offensive end."
Petty scored 20 of his 30 points in the first 10:08 of the second half while shooting 5-for-5 from three-point distance. Then Tennessee switched up its defense and held him scoreless for the final 9:52.
“We went to what we call a no catch defense, where that person really has no help responsibility and they just try to make them work to get open any way they can. Avery did some good stuff trying to run John Petty off one or two screens. Jordan Bowden did a great job," Barnes said.
Petty attempted only two shots (both three-pointers) in the final nine minutes, one was blocked by Grant Williams with 1:22 left and the Vols up by one.
“Honestly, I thought he was going to find a way to get that shot off in the corner and I thought he was going to make it because he was hot all night," Williams said. "John is a really good shooter especially when he is hot. I knew I had to close out hard on him. I didn’t know I was going to get a piece of the ball. I was just trying to affect the shot.”
Williams finished with 21 points on 8-of-17 shooting but told reporters he was unhappy with his defensive play.
Schofield had a poor shooting night, shots just weren't falling as he went 4-17 from the field and 1-4 from beyond the arc but he fought his way to a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
“That’s what good players do. They find a way to impact the game," Barnes said.
"If you go into a game thinking it’s going to be all scoring, you let that affect you, which he does some. He’s mature enough that he figured out how to go back and impact the game in a different way. Missing shots is part of this game, and it happens to the best of the best. The fact is that he went back and got 11 rebounds and got a couple big baskets at the end of the game."
Kyle Alexander finished with nine rebounds and a career-high five blocks. Jordan Bone scored 10 and dished out 7 assists against just one turnover.
Tennessee was held under 50% shooting for the first time since the Gonzaga game, snapping a streak of eight games above that mark and shot just 29.4% in the second half.
However, Barnes was more disappointed in the defensive effort.
"It’s a mentality, and this will show them how it’s just a mindset. We’ve hadn’t had it the way we need to have it for a couple of games, and we’ve got to get it, or it will catch up with us like it did today," Barnes said.
"I think you have to give Avery a lot of credit for doing what he wanted to do, isolating who he wanted to isolate, spreading us out, and transitioning. Never happened all year long, we scored two baskets and they came back and scored two baskets in transition. That hasn’t happened to us all year. That’s where the guys don’t have the defensive mentality. We’re just jogging back after scoring; we’re not as hungry on that end as we need to be. Can we work on it harder? I’m not sure how we can work on it harder because I still think it’s a mindset that we have to realize and dive back into it.”
With no. 2 Michigan's loss to Wisconsin on Saturday and no. 1 Duke's home loss to Syracuse earlier in the week, no. 3 Tennessee has a chance to move up to the top of the rankings when the new AP poll comes out on Monday.
The Vols have been ranked no. 1 only once previously, in 2008.
Tennessee's 12-game win streak is three short of the program record of 15. Next up is a trip to Nashville on Wednesday to take on Vanderbilt.